Friday, February 27, 2015

It's currently snowing. Snowing!!!! Real snow! Not ice!! So, here's how you make sure you survive snow/ice days.
Go to Aldi and stock up! It's our new favorite store. They have a lot of gluten free options!! Here's how we managed!!

The first ice day was not a gluten free day. I had biscuits and sausage gravy and I do not regret it at all!!! It was marvelous!!! I was so productive and I sat working on schedules and confirming appointments.

We made some jalapeno poppers! They were nice and hot and warmed us up immediately!!

Then ice day #2 started with gluten free french toast!!! I do not even remember the last time I had french toast!! It was sooo good.

And then, we made the most fantastic gluten free pizza ever!!! With turkey pepperoni, mushrooms, onions, red peppers, and black olives! Duck Dude would barely be able to tell it was gluten free!!!

Here's to possibly ending our school day early because of more snow! Let's be real.... no one is teaching right now!!!!

Thursday, February 26, 2015

Today, I am linking up with Bonnie and Bon's Book Club to talk about the book My Story by Elizabeth Smart.

Here were the questions that Bonnie laid out and that I will answer in order.

Questions:+ What made you feel connected (or disconnected) to Elizabeth throughout the story?+ What was something that amazed/ shocked you when reading her story?+ Was the writing style an issue for you? Why or why not? + What was most impressive to you about Elizabeth's story?

A little background info, Elizabeth was kidnapped when she was 14 years old from her bed, in her own house. She was held captive by a crazy man who deemed himself a prophet of God and got to have seven wives (young girls, of course) and a crazy woman who went along with this crazy man.

What made you feel connected (or disconnected) to Elizabeth throughout the story?

I think my biggest connection was through Elizabeth's age. I teach 14 year old girls..a lot of them... and they are innocent, and pure, and I could not imagine any of them going through all of the things that Elizabeth wrote about. Truth is, Elizabeth was so young and I could not stop thinking about that while reading.

What was something that amazed/shocked you when reading her story?

I thought it was very interesting how Elizabeth felt the need to defend herself from the Stockholm syndrome several times throughout the story. They almost seemed to be blurted out into a section of her story. I also had to look up what Stockholm syndrome was, but it's where hostages begin to identify with their captors and empathize with them. You see, there are several occurrences in the book where Elizabeth had the option to scream/yell/say, "I am Elizabeth!!! Save me!!!" But she doesn't... she says it was due to fear. Her captor had threatened her family and made it seem like it was her responsibility if her family survived... and well, he captured her from her own bed, in her own house.. so she believed him. So, there are certain instances in the book where it almost seems like she is going off on tangents emphasizing she did not have Stockholm syndrome and she never lost sight of exactly who Brian David Mitchell was.

Was the writing style an issue for you? Why or why not?

I didn't recognize the writing style as an issue. I think she wrote the book in a more colloquial style, but that doesn't bother me at all. For example, the almost "blurting out" of "I did not have Stockholm syndrome"... I can see how that would throw some people off.. but for me it made sense. I would rather read her story as if she were telling it and not as a reporter would tell it.

What was most impressive to you about Elizabeth's story?

This one is simple. Her resolve to survive. And the insight she has chosen to gain from this whole experience.

Her thoughts on evil in the world:

"Yes, God can make some good come from evil. But even He, in all His majesty, won't make the evil go away. Men are free. He won't control them. There is wickedness in this world."

Her reaction to evil in this world:

"We can choose to be taken by the evil. Or we can try to embrace the good."

On God's miracles:

"Some of them are much more subtle. We may even have to look for His miracles along the way. But they are there. And they're important when we are struggling with the challenging battles of this life."

Would I recommend reading it? A definite yes. It's intense, but it is a remarkable story.

You see, about that email you sent out last week.... about Spring Open House. It's next Tuesday night, March 3rd. Which happens to be the week of my wedding, and during that week of my wedding I have scheduled an absolutely, necessary hair cut, hair color, and eyelash extension appointment.

You see, I have been blessed with having gray hairs since I was 22. I've been coloring my hair for 4 and half years and I refuse am politely asking to please help me make sure I do not have gray hairs on my wedding day!!! I've actually had this appointment scheduled for 6 months! Like, I began with this scheduling this, exact appointment, then I worked backwards to schedule all my other appointments... just to make sure that my hair would be exactly the right color on my wedding day.

The day of my wedding. Where you take pictures that last a lifetime. The 60+ years we plan on being married. I'm going to have to look at these pictures. Would you want me to have a bad memory about this one day? Would you want me to look at every single picture and only see my gray hair? Do you want to be responsible for that?!

Oh, and the lashes? Yes, those are absolutely necessary as well. I've checked to see if she has any other appointments and she doesn't. Nothing, all week. And I've had these stupid allergies that have made my eyes all goopy, and my lashes have been getting stuck in them, and so I really need my fill. I wouldn't want my lashes to look uneven on a day when I'm taking pictures that will last a lifetime!!!! Oh, I've already mentioned that part? Oopsie, daisy.

And let's be real, how often do you hear from my parents? All my parents love me, all my, all my parents love me.

Monday, February 23, 2015

It's an ice day here in Texas!!!! We don't have snow days.. we get ice. And I watched the news for an hour and a half this morning watching all the Dallasites try to drive on ice. It's not as graceful as Disney on Ice.

I've also already gotten a phone call from a Louisiana family friend blaming me for the entire DFW metroplex having a day off just so I can wedding plan!! But hey, it's working!!

So, I am alllll posted up in my chair! My roommate mom made me biscuits and gravy for breakfast and I ate every last crumb on my plate, because no rules on ice days. I also completed our reserved signs! I painted the bottom wooden part a metallic, champagne color and wrote with paint pen (not chalk pen) on the chalk board! I was impressed with my cursive and about ready to call it a productive day.

But I am not... because 12 DAYS y'all. 12. Almost single digits. And is it a coincidence that 12 is my favorite number and I have a random ice/wedding planning day?! I think not. So I am currently working on the official, all things Wedding Day Schedule!!! And I am about to start Pride and Prejudice. Since I practically have that movie memorized, I can multitask while I repeat the lines out loud.... even if one's partner is barely tolerable.

Thursday, February 19, 2015

If you've been around here for a little bit, you might remember my lent-less post from last year. In college, I started participating in lent for the sole reason I thought it was a good challenge to give up something. It started with facebook, moved on to french fries, bread, and then there was last year. I couldn't think of anything good to "give up." So, I decided to "give" something instead. It was going to be super great. I was going to mail out a card each day to someone I was praying for! ...... Until I failed miserably. I think I sent out one.. maybe two cards all lent long. And that would just be a crazy idea to try this year... because. wedding. And I'll be in St. Lucia for a week. #humblebrag So.. I'm at a stand still. I've pretty much given up gluten all year... so I didn't want to do that.. giving up diet coke, especially before the wedding, wouldn't be good for anyone around! I was about ready to go lent-less again... until a student teacher caught my ear yesterday. We were sitting in lunch and she said she was giving up baking for lent. I thought, my brand new husband, probably would not be a fan of that idea. At all. No, no.. that's not good. It was the next thing she said that caught my attention. She said, "I'm also giving up social media past 9 pm." Ohhhh. Social media. How often do you crawl into bed and then decide to just peruse facebook for a second? Twitter is my down fall. I can look at twitter all night if I need to. Oh, and Instagram's "search" page brings up the most random, weirdly connected people to me!! Like high school people I haven't thought of in 9 years... how do you know that Instagram?! And then, all of a sudden... it's 30 minutes later and I wanted to already be asleep!Or, I could spend that time in a more productive manner... like reading! I'm reading the blog book club book and it's fantastic and so intriguing... Why wouldn't I spend 30 more minutes reading rather than twittering? It just sounds like such a better way to end my night! Heck, let's be honest, why wouldn't I spend 30 more minutes knocking out 5 thank you cards?!All of this to say, I know I can spend my time more wisely at night. So, for lent... I will be giving up social media after 9 pm with an intent of using that time to better myself!

Wednesday, February 18, 2015

Duck Dude and I are very lucky to be loved by so many people in our lives. There's just one problem with that. Hostess gifts. We had three magnificent showers (see the recap here) and they were so much fun... but with those three showers came 28 hostesses. Yikes. And while there is absolutely nothing wrong with giving a candle.... I did not want to give a candle.

Heck, even a Tyler candle is still 20 dollars! 20 times 28.... that's 560 dollars on candles!!! So pretty soon from the beginning, I knew I wanted to make my hostesses something. And on black Friday while shopping with my mother and sister in law, we found inspiration. In my new favorite store, Altar'd State, there were these pretty crosses on a ledge.

Ohhh, a monogram is way more personal we thought out loud. They were $30 a piece. (of course I'm going to do the math again).... 30 times 28 = 840 dollars. YIKES. There's no way I can spend that much on hostess gifts alone!! So we went home and got to thinking. My mother in law knew that they had a family friend's barn door that we could use for wood... but it wouldn't make us enough.. and how could we do the monograms... and surely, Hobby Lobby has a ribbon that would be perfect for this. We let my father in law get his creative juices flowing, and we were able to make a hostess gift that was 283 times better than the 30 dollar ones. Here's how we did it!

Start with a template on the wood. Get a sexy wood-cutter. Have said, sexy wood cutter, cut the wood into cross shape with a saw.. I'm relatively sure it's not a circular saw.. so I'm just gonna say fancy saw. I, clearly, was not in charge of this part.

Bevel the edges of the cross and get saw dust all over yourself. Papa-Hawg-father-in-law was excellent at this part.Then burn the edges of the cross to give it even more character.... and because fire is cool.

Then Papa-Hawg-father-in-law bent barbwire with his own brute strength into the letters of the initials we needed for our wonderful hostesses.

All while mother in law and I picked out the perfect ribbon and made the bows for the crosses.

Then take a break to have a blind taste test over which white wine to serve at the wedding. This is an essential part to the process. You have to do this part or the crosses will absolutely not turn out correctly.

Put the barb wire letter on with a little hot glue. Put the ribbon on with one nail in the center of it.

And you have a one of a kind hostess gift! We definitely enjoyed making them and were so proud to hand them out after our beautiful showers!!

Tuesday, February 17, 2015

Good Tuesday morning!!! I have made it here today and I am so excited! Mainly because I inserted a tease on Friday and didn't make it here yesterday to follow up!! Teacher training days are super thrilling and mean I cannot just blog whenever I want. :)

Anyways, so where we left off! I talked about a little tradition I have started. I started it with my sisters and now I'm extending it to our Valentine's traditions! It's simple, but it's one of my favorite things. A home made card.

For Ms Natalie who loves her ice cream every night!

For sister Laura who thinks pizza is a food group!

For my red head and blonde sisters..... thanks to a little inside joke from the bachelorette party and some random pears that existed. :)

Then, Travis and got our official marriage license!! And only because someone thought that meant we went to the courthouse and got married over the weekend...... that's not what that means. It means our pastor can fill that out and send it into the courthouse for official documentation of our marriage..... on March 7th.

Then we did some Top Golf and had a marvelous time! I was running a little late that morning, so I quite literally air dryed my hair on the way there! Front seat, windows down, that's the way I like to... dry my hair.

It was an absolutely perfect day, with perfect people, and it all went by so fast!! Apparently the boys were too busy golfing because I actually did not get a real picture with them! Just the gals... on Galentine's Day.

And just like that we are down to only 2 more weekends separating us and the Trollie Wedding!! Amazing, huh? Now I gotta go look at programs!!

Friday, February 13, 2015

It's Friday the 13th and the day before Valentine's Day!! That's always an excellent combination when you teach 7th graders. Don't believe me? Here's the convo I just had:

7th grade boy: "Um, are earrings a good gift?"

Me: "Yeah! Absolutely!"

7th grade boy: "Ok, cause I bought 100 dollar earrings."

Me: "ohhh, for who?"

7th grade boy: "Someone"

Me: "Your mom?"

7th grade boy: After glaring at me, "No.... not... my... mom!"

Me: "A girl?"

7th grade boy: Still glaring... "Yes! Of course a girl! I don't buy 100 dollar earrings for a boy!"

Me: "Do I know her?"

7th grade boy: "Yes!!!!!

Valentine's Day.

We are not super Valentine's day people... but I do enjoy the little tradition we have started! For Valentine's day we do something with a fantastic group of people! We go on a triple date with Duck Dude's sister (sister Laura) and Naked Nick and our family friends Natalie and Dallas!

Last year we went to hibachi and the chef flung an egg at me, but we still had a fantastic time!! See?

This year, we have decided to go to Top Golf!!! Top Golf is this virtual golf driving range and it's fun. Even for girls who don't golf! Here's what it looks like:

Each golf ball is microchipped and you hit it and, ideally, it goes into one of those nets with the flags! Then you get certain points for getting it into nets that are closer to the flag!! Or, if you're me you just roll the golf ball into the outside of the yellow flag right in front of you! Then they serve food and drinks and it's just a grand 'ol time!! I'm also super excited to introduce Natalie and Laura to a different Valentine's day tradition... but you don't get to know until Monday, because that would ruin the surprise! Have a marvelous Friday and a very Happy Valentine's Day!!

Wednesday, February 11, 2015

A little while back, one of the bloggers I read consistently had just gotten engaged and did a little segment called 20 questions with her fiance. And I thought to myself, self, that's an excellent idea!! Duck Dude would love to do a question segment!! And that's how this little thing was born. Now it's 4 weeks later and I have finally gotten around to asking him the questions! He's such a good sport! :) His answers are in black... my comments are in purple.. because it's Valentine's day-ish.

1. What do you really think about blogging?
Oh man! I think it's a unique way to document your life with a main purpose with a whole bunch of strangers able to read it. It think its creative and very ..... Backspace through I think it's creative. I think it's a talented gift. Pretty accurate if you ask me, except the backspacing through creative part.

2.How do feel about posing for a million photos with me?I think I'm very photogenic, not as photogenic as you (good catch there, babe) but I love being in front of the camera and in front of the spotlight, duh.

3. Do you think blogging is going to be around for awhile?Hmmmmm. To me, a new way to post your life story and I believe it will eventually be outdated by new and more modern. Interesting, because to me, blogging has been around for forever, way back to the xanga days.

4. What do you want people to know about you?

I'm a catch. He always says this. I'm very sincere and genuine,.. But very protective and competitive all at the same time.... and I like the bachelor Also very true! But it's super great to discuss Bachelor theory with your fiance... it's good for our relationship.

5. How often do you really read my blog?

I check it twice a day... Or sometimes three times a day because you don't always post at 10:30 ... He knows when my conference period is.

6. Who do you like more- me or Koal?

Sorry there was some static... Can you repeat the question? No there wasn't. Who do you like more - me or Koal? Koal was my first love, then there was a time when I liked you both the same.. Then there came a time in my life where you became most important... insert really big pause. However if I locked you both I'm a trunk for four hours... I know who would be most excited to see me. Mom, he just said he's going to lock me in a trunk. Good thing my beneficiary is still you.

7. What did you notice about me the first time we went on a date?

I remember very clearly,.. Your knowledge of sports and you quickly corrected me and said " if I had a dollar for every guy that's told me that." And what did that make you think?

I remember thinking not to make a big deal about, the fact that you know sports. That's cool. I didn't know all that... or remember saying that.

8. Were you nervous when you proposed to me?Absolutely!! If you couldn't tell I was shaking.. It was because we were in the swells and I couldn't get you to not take pictures of the sunset for the blog, obviously and just sit still and listen to the song!!!

9. How long did you have the ring?2 weeks prior

10. What are you most looking forward to about living with me?Besides the romantical things? Someone to come home to and cook with and wind my day down with... Besides koal since she's now number two! But number 2 in both of our hearts! ... until we have a baby. Probably. If I'm guessing. And that won't be anytime soon, so she's good for a while.

11. How bad were your answers for the "Match Travis' Answers" portion of my bachelorette party?On a scale from 1-10..... I think the questions wrong... It should be how good were my answers. Except for the Charlie Sheen answer... for his "celebrity dad" answer he picked CHARLIE SHEEN!!! ... I'd give myself a 7 out of 10.

12. Which post do you like the most that I've written?Double date duck hunt postExcept there wasn't a dddh2k14 and now I'm bitter.

13. What do you like most about Texas?The exceptionally good food, the genuineness of everyone who lives here, the weather, and the really good lookin womenNo arguments there

14. How big of a bridezilla have I been while being engaged?Question #15.. oh just answer it I think you've done well. I've seen some inner woman times while planning a wedding... but I think you've done well while sometimes being frustrated with the process.so politically correct.

15. What do you think about this post?Right now I'm pretty nervous... I'm afraid you're going to take my answers and make me sound dumb! I'm literally just typing what you're saying!

16. What's your favorite part about being engaged?Introducing you to people as my fiancé and getting to plan the honeymoonhoneymoooooon. So excited.

17. What color should I paint my nails for our wedding day?Well being the observant person i am.. I noticed they're blush pink. So blush pink... But an extravagant answer would be camoI like this part... because they're actually not a blush pink. They're just a solid neutral. The blush pink colors were too girly.

18. What's the first thing you're going to do when we get to St. Lucia?Put away my swimsuit and go to the pool bar with my bride and get a cocktailI'll second that

19. What color do you think my wedding dress is?Some shade of white?? Cream? I didn't know there were different colors. You keep saying pink, but I don't think it's pink.It's hot pink.

20. What do you want to say to all of the other boys behind the blog out there?As long as these women are talking you in their blog, it means you still have a special place in their heart...... And don't agree to do 20 questions!!!! Ohhh it wasn't that bad.... right?!

Monday, February 9, 2015

No? That's not a real thing? Well, we might as well make it one. Because I have made a discovery:

Eyelash extensions are everything. I so can't even. Like literally.

They're absolutely as "basic" as it gets... but I'm so in love with them, I don't even care. Before:

Just check out that pre-lashes excitement!!

After:

I see you lashes!!!

Before:

After:

Why yes that big pink bag IS my wedding dress!!!! :) And I'm about to put it on in 4 hours to take some pretty pictures! Thank you for an absolutely perfect sunny and 74 degree day!!Before/After:

Need I say more?I don't have a hairbrush besides my teasing brush, but I now have a lashes brush... And I love to brush my lashes. Just to make sure they are all full and lovely. They flutter in the wind because they are so long. It was weird at first, but now it's just the norm. I feel like I can go places without make up now and people don't even look at me weird, because hi! you have pretty eyelashes! And they're busy working hard right now while I take bridal portraits. Embrace the basic.